Flood-damaged Boulder Canyon re-opens to traffic ahead of schedule

Repairs to Colo. 119 to Nederland finished ahead of schedule

Camera staff

Posted:
10/06/2013 12:25:53 PM MDT

Updated:
10/07/2013 04:39:33 PM MDT

After riding his bicycle up from 55th Street, Michael Flemming stops at a section of washed out of the Boulder Creek Path about 1 1/2 miles up Boulder Canyon in Boulder, Colorado October 7, 2012. Boulder Canyon is open to auto traffic from Boulder to Nederland but the Boulder Creek trail still has sections closed. BOULDER DAILY CAMERA/ Mark Leffingwell (MARK LEFFINGWELL)

Monday morning, commuters can drive down Boulder Canyon from Nederland for the first time since the September floods.

Boulder Canyon re-opened at 5 p.m. Sunday, earlier than the expected mid- to late October opening that Colorado Department of Transportation officials had estimated.

Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Amy Ford said crews worked around the clock to repair Colo. 119, which was heavily damaged by the floods.

“We're very much excited,” she said. “We greatly appreciate the partnerships we've had with the local agencies and the patience from the residents.”

All the needed repairs aren't finished, she said, but the road is in good enough shape to open one-lane of traffic both ways between Boulder and Nederland. She said motorists should expect to see some delays in the coming weeks as work is completed on the road. After the flooding, about 20 percent of the road was damaged, with some areas washed away entirely.

This afternoon, about two dozen cars lined up waiting for the road to open. As drivers started up, they honked, cheered and yelled their thanks. The road has been closed since Sept. 12.

“We're fortunate and happy to have the road,” said Joel Edson as he and Sandra Taylor, who live in Sugarloaf and commute, waited for the go-ahead.

Annette Croughwell, a Nederland trustee who cheered on drivers at the opening, said residents were “buzzing” about getting access to the road again after the Boulder Office of Emergency Management announced it this afternoon via Twitter.

As a commuter herself, she said, she's thrilled. She drove 900 miles in three weeks taking various roundabout routes through the foothills, with one drive to Boulder topping two-and-a-half hours.

“A lot of people are counting their blessings,” she said.

Nicole Silk, who lives off of Magnolia Road outside Nederland, had to be creative with two children who attend Boulder schools.

Using Skype and learning at home, they cut down their trips into Boulder to three times a week. On the trips back and forth, her kids did homework in the car. They also skipped afterschool activities.

Though it worked, she said, they're all looking forward to a return to a normal routine.

“We're super excited,” she said. “It's going to make our lives so much easier.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper is scheduled to join Don Hunt, CDOT's executive director, and other elected officials at the official reopening early this morning.

Hickenlooper set Dec. 1 as a deadline by which state highways must be reopened. A total of $91.5 million in state money has been set aside for those efforts.

Permanent repairs to Colorado's highways are expected to cost an estimated $475 million. The Boulder Office of Emergency Management's preliminary assessments estimated that $89 million in damage was done to roads and bridges in Lyons, Jamestown and unincorporated Boulder County alone.